How Lawyers Can Build a Client Referral Program

You must have a steady stream of leads for your law firm to thrive. You can accomplish a lot through marketing, but that can quickly become very costly. However, there’s a resource that you might not have tapped yet: your existing client base. You can use satisfied, loyal clients in your marketing and outreach strategy by creating a client referral program. 

How would one work for a law firm? Are you not sold on implementing a client referral program in the first place? This post will give you all the information you need.

What is a client referral program?

Chances are good that you’re familiar with general referral programs. They’re used in almost every industry to leverage a business’s most valuable marketing asset: their customer base. 

How do client referral programs work?

All client referral programs operate from the same base idea but vary in structure, format, and implementation. The general idea is to ask your clients to recommend you to their friends, family, coworkers, and others they know. 

This is where things start to get different. You can make the ask straight out or incentivize your clients to refer you. We’ve all received those emails from time to time that say something to the effect of, “Refer a friend and get $20 off your next order!” That’s a great example of an incentivized referral program; you can use just about anything as an incentive. The only rule is whatever you’re offering must have value to your audience. Otherwise, it’s not much of an incentive. 

Once referred, there’s usually some sort of qualifying action that the referral must take for the referrer to be credited with the incentive. Sometimes, it’s simply making a purchase or signing up for a newsletter. In the case of a law office, it might be scheduling (and completing) an initial consultation. 

Are referral programs successful?

Finally, let’s talk about success. Just how much can a client referral program move the needle for your law firm? According to Annex Cloud:

• A client referred to you will generate a 25% higher profit margin.
• A referred client is 18% more loyal.
• Clients referred to you are 4x more likely to refer others to you.
• Referred clients have a 37% higher retention rate.

Those are some substantial numbers. And you can generate those results without a significant investment in new marketing. 

How to start a client referral program for your law firm

Now that you know a bit more about client referral programs, how they work, and what they can achieve for you, let’s talk about how you get started. It’s not all that complicated. Just follow these four steps.

Step 1: Deliver great client service

First things first: you can’t expect your clients to refer their friends, family, or coworkers to you if they’re not satisfied with their experience. It's your responsibility to ensure your client service is top-notch, to the point that referring others to your practice is a no-brainer. Not only is that a requirement for generating referrals, but it’s also just good business practice. Plus, it’s technically your ethical duty. 

Is your client service on par? Take a closer look and honestly rate your practice in the following areas:

• Attention to detail
• Communication (timeliness and accuracy)
• Seamless, client-friendly billing

Step 2: Connect with other professionals

While getting your current clients to recommend you to others is excellent, you may need more. If your practice is small, you may not have a large client base. Client referrals are also unpredictable. You can get around that by connecting with other professionals and making it worth their while to recommend you to their clients.

This sort of arrangement can be incentivized, reciprocal, or both. For instance, if another professional recommends a client, you’ll do the same for them. It’s a “you scratch my back, and I’ll scratch yours” type of relationship. You can toss in incentives like discounts if you feel that it’s necessary.

What types of professionals should you connect with? First, consider connecting with other attorneys and legal professionals, especially those with a different legal focus. You should also consider connecting with professionals in related fields. For example, if you’re an estate planning and probate attorney, connecting with CPAs and financial advisors is a great idea. 

Step 3: Stay connected

The third step is more about maintaining the relationships you’ve built with others, both clients and other professionals. To do that, you’ll need to stay connected. Modern technology makes that much easier, but you must still be intentional about it. For instance, you can use social media to share updates and client testimonials, answer questions, and provide guidance. You can also use email to send personalized messages and updates to your clients and to keep in touch with other professionals in your network. 

Social media is one way to do this, particularly if you’ve encouraged your clients to connect with you on those platforms. You can post updates, client testimonials, and more, but don’t make it all about self-promotion. Answer questions, provide guidance, link to blog posts that explain things prospective clients should know, and generally make your practice a valuable resource for people even if they never step through your physical doorway.

Email is another powerful tool. You should collect your clients’ email addresses as part of your intake process. That gives you access to their attention in a way that’s impossible through other channels. If you’re not already, make email a big part of your overall marketing strategy, customize the emails you send out, and use this tool to build stronger relationships.

Step 4: Track referrals

Finally, you can’t just “set it and forget it” with a client referral program. You must actively track and manage each referral from the first touchpoint. You’ll need to find out who referred each individual and track whether the referrals stick with your firm. 

This involves two basic steps: collecting and entering information into your CRM and monitoring referral activity over time. Not only will this help you identify who’s referring you and who’s not, but it can give you a better idea of what types of clients and other partners are most worth your time so you can spend your resources more accurately.

Smith.ai can accelerate your client referral program success

Two major components of any successful client referral program are delivering outstanding client service and collecting information from referrals. Smith.ai’s experienced virtual receptionists can help accelerate your program’s success. First, we ensure that every call is answered professionally, no matter what time of the day or night it comes in. Second, we collect important information from each caller and enter it into your CRM, making tracking success simple and effective. When you choose Smith.ai as your legal answering service, you can also take advantage of our other services, including appointment setting, lead screening, SMS and email follow-up, and more.

To learn more, schedule a consultation or reach out to hello@smith.ai.